About a year ago I was able to get a MacBook Pro at an incredible low price. I’ve had many of my friends break their laptop screens simply by walking from one location to another because of inadequate padding and protection and I didn’t want my laptop to suffer a similar fate.

Putting the laptop in a incase sleeve wasn’t going to do it for me, and I didn’t want to lug around a ‘laptop bag’; I wanted a backpack specially designed for laptops. Luckily, to my surprise, I found exactly what I was looking for – the STM Evolution. The price on the bag was a little steep: $110. But thats a small price to pay for a easy to carry backpack that provides adequate padding.

For the first couple months the bag worked great. I was able to fit 2-3 large books, the macbook charger, pencils, pens, calculator, various cables, mouse, camera – basically any electronic device I use – in this compact, padded, easy to carry  backpack. However around the six month mark the zipper lining started to wear off and the shoulder strap started to rip. I was very disappointed. I was not expecting a $110 bag to fall apart within the first six months.

I decided to call up STM and try to get a replacement. The bag came with a lifetime warranty, but I honestly didn’t think I would actually be able to get the backpack replaced without spending copious hours on the phone or searching through old paperwork. To my surprise it took me less than an hour to get a replacement sent out. I sent them photos of the ripped shoulder strap along with my receipt and then sent me out a new one on the spot. Very impressive customer support. I received the new bag four days after making the claim and it ended up being a updated version with increased padding and better construction. My initial disappointment with STM was quickly dispelled after my encounter with there customer support.